Not sure whether this post belongs on this blog...but what the heck...
When looking through some photos recently i came across a couple i had taken in March this year of the "Goulburn Steam Weekend" that was not be....in a literal sense.
The programme that took place over the weekend of 17th & 18th March was supposed to feature a 30 Class steamer on 4 return journeys between Goulburn & Marulan each day.
As it turned out the 30 Class did not materialise for reasons that are best left out of this essay & the weekend went ahead with 4403 & 4807 top & tail with a rake of preserved passenger rollingstock.
Sunday provided the best morning light so with a cup of tea & camera in hand i walked out the front door & captured an up working.
I guess i should at this point describe the location of the included photos for those readers that are not familiar with the Southern Line...
Both shots are taken at the same location in North Goulburn between the disused ballast quarry & the original Hume Highway overbridge. ( Right at the 222km peg )
When viewing these photos later it occurred to me the railway infrastructure changes that have taken place in the last 10 years ( i moved here in 2002 ) at this location & indeed the changes that have happened in say the last hundred years.
I guess the major changes in my time here would be the dissappearance of the Down Distant & Down Outer Home signal ( both removed around 2004/5 ) which used to provide me with a heads up to approaching down trains before the advent of a certain website...The other major but less visible change would be the concrete sleeper replacement programme...
The Down Outer Home was located approximately where the excavator is sitting in Photo1
As an aside...i tried to procure ( legally ) either of these decommissioned signals from ARTC to erect in my back yard....this was not to be & i happily settled for the Down Home signal from Galong...
When one looks at the last hundred or so years...the changes are major & i will describe just a few:
The biggest change would have been the duplication of the main south running line.
The Hume Highway originally crossed the line on the level, then the first road overbridge appeared, followed by( in around 1978) the second four lane bridge just visible beyond the original bridge in Photo1.
The quarry referred to is a bit of a landmark around here... ( and has a fascinating history in itself ) it operated till the mid 1940s and is located in the side of the hill above the exhaust of 4807 in Photo2
Rail access to the quarry was via a siding that left the down main via trailing points near the overbridge in Photo 1 & paralleled the down main ( in an up direction ) to the quarry ( its route is identified by the ARTC 4x4 in Photo2 )
The now closed North Goulburn station would have been my "local".... the down platform, station masters residence & empty signal box still exist & are located just beyond the road bridges in Photo1
One other major change was the closure of the Crookwell branch line....it would have been possible to hear & see the workings trundling on & off the line from our front door....
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PHOTO 1 |
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PHOTO 2 |
As a railfan....i am blessed to live where i am & i guess the lessons re learnt while writing this post is that nothing stays the same & i should be out there recording the changes no matter how small....that may make me more aware & observant in turn helping me in the minuature stakes towards creating a better modelling environment in which to run my trains???
Regards
Rod
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